A mum is in shock after her daughter was reportedly reprimanded at school for an act deemed “inappropriate” – readjusting her tights in front of male teachers.
Students in skirts have always faced the practicality issues that come with tights: they might look sophisticated but often need hitching up, not to mention the inevitable ladders and itching that can occur during a long school day.
Controversy has sparked on MumsNet, where a mother shared her frustration about her 14-year-old daughter getting into trouble for fixing her tights in class. Choosing to stay unnamed, the furious mother revealed that the school’s headmistress enforced a new rule, which allegedly states: “Female students are banned from pulling up/adjusting their tights in front of male teachers.”
The headmistress labelled the declaration “inappropriate” as girls were instructed to adjust their tights only in private restrooms. The bewildered parent posed the question online: “Surely this is crazy? “.
Venting further, the mother questioned why male teachers would find such a sight offensive, arguing it’s none of their concern if a student needs to pull up her tights while navigating the school corridors, adding her own disdain for wearing tights due to their tendency to sag.
One parent expressed their concern, stating: “My interpretation of this rule is that she’s insinuating this is a provocative act, and in my opinion it’s totally inappropriate for a male teacher to be distracted by underage girls, adjusting their uniform if needed.”
Other parents shared similar sentiments, with one saying: “What? I’d be livid if this was announced in assembly – are the boys being given instructions not to adjust their clothes too? ”
A former student at an all-girls school added: “I went to an all girls school. We pulled them up in front of anyone. Literally so uncomfortable otherwise! “
Another individual pointed out the impracticality of the head teacher’s idea, stating: “Is she joking…? God I wouldn’t even notice I was doing it when I was at school! And what if I they have cheap tights like a lot of teenage girls do? They’ll be in the bloody bathrooms every five minutes.”
Some suggested that students could protest the rule by frequently requesting bathroom breaks, with one saying: “If I were your daughter I would seriously ask to go to the loo every five minutes to prove a point.”
However, not everyone disagreed with the head teacher, as one person wrote: “I agree with her that pulling up tights is something to be done in private spaces. As should all adjustment of underwear by all sexes. So rule is fair enough, but it is odd that she singled out doing it in front of male teachers.”
One parent remarked: “Depends. If they are hitching up skirts to pull tights up round their crotches then they should be doing that in private.”
Echoing the sentiment, another added: “Surely parents teach their children to adjust their underwear in private. I’d say it about boys if they wore tights too.”
Meanwhile, a different voice called for a uniform overhaul, suggesting: “Time to get rid of skirts and tights as school uniform. Let them all just wear jeans.”
Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments below.